Thursday, October 31, 2013

There were many things covered in episode one of The
African Americans:Many Rivers to Cross,
in which I am inspired to write about.In this posting, I will discuss my thoughts about the conversation about
food and food traditions between Professor Henry Louis Gates and Culinary Historian
Michael Twitty.

Episode
One: The Black Atlantic (1500-1800)

I loved watching this segment which opened with Professor
Gates and Mr. Twitty walking towards the garden as Mr. Twitty began the
conversation saying that the garden “signifies
crops that enslaved African Americans would have grown.” Professor Gates’ response that “the most enduring expressions of any
culture is food” and about people being able “to access the world of ancestors by tasting it” perked my interest
and I began to think about food and cooking traditions in my own family. In my immediate family (my three sisters and
I), food and cooking traditions were primarily passed down to us from our
maternal grandmother. Although the time
period for episode one of Many Rivers to Cross was from 1500-1800, my thoughts
about food traditions and cooking focused on what this meant to me during my
lifetime.

Grandma’s
Cooking

Emma Johnson Thornton, my maternal grandmother

In 2011, when my grandmother Emma died, I wanted her funeral
program to include more information about her beyond vital facts about birth,
marriage, or death. One of the things I
did as I prepared to write her funeral program was to talk to three generations
of my family about their memories of her.
This included her children (my aunt and uncle), my sisters and first
cousins, and some of the great-grandchildren of my grandmother. The common theme and memories from all three
generations was about the foods she cooked.
As a result, I included this statement in the narrative of her funeral
program.

One of my favorite memories of my grandmother’s cooking
is her homemade biscuits. (click here
for that story)

Grandma’s
Spam Soup

In another part of the food conversation, Michael Twitty mentioned
to Professor Gates that he had found a reference which quoted the wife of a
former Virginia governor to have said “No
one bakes a ham better than a big, fat negro Mammy”. Rather than taking offense to this, Mr.
Twitty and Professor Gates put the comment in a positive and complimentary
perspective as they stood near the stalk of sorghum.

Twitty: But somehow we got our hands in the sugarcane.

Gates: And our ancestors blackified it:

Twitty: We blackified it--we took everything and made
it better, made it more soulful…

This part of the conversation about putting the “blackified”
or “soul” touch on food ignited my memories about my grandmother’s creative
cooking methods and her spam soup.
Grandma’s family was poor and she also grew up during the Great
Depression so I’m sure she learned some of this cooking creativity from her
mother and other ancestors. I remember
one cold winter when food in the house was low and Grandma made a large pot of
homemade soup. Typically she included
some type of meat in her soup such as chicken, turkey, or beef. However, she did not have any meat in the
house and no money to even buy meat from the store. The closest thing she had to meat was a can of
spam which someone had given her. So
along with her blending various types of fresh and canned vegetables to make
the soup, Grandma cut the spam into chunks and threw them in the pot. Talk about delicious!

In episode one, Professor Gates talked about
slave cooks “crafting a distinct African
American cuisine.” Well, I must say
that my grandmother’s spam soup, biscuits, and other meals were definitely “distinct African American cuisines.” In the Bible, Jesus performed a miracle
when he used two fish and five loaves of bread to feed a large crowd of over five
thousand people. During my lifetime, I
witnessed my grandmother working quite a few meal
miracles as she took what little she had to make a tasty meal.

My
Cooking and Eating Practices Today

In the last two years, I have had to radically change my
cooking and eating practices to improve my health. Although my cooking methods are drastically
different from my grandmother and other ancestors, I have learned through
studying various recipes and by trial and error how to get some of the tastes
of the past without the high salt, sugar, or fat that would have been used by
my ancestors to “craft their distinct
African American cuisines.

Monday, October 28, 2013

In July 2013, while vising St. Louis, Missouri, I took a comfortable boat ride across the Mississippi River. If the Mississippi River could talk, what stories would it tell?

I am excited
to be a member of the African-American Genealogy and History Blogging
Circle.This team of outstanding
African-American bloggers and I will be watching the six-part series "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross" which began on PBS Tuesday, October 22, 2013.The African-American Genealogy and History
Blogging Circle and I will be blogging about our own genealogical and
historical research and family sagas in relation to the time periods reflected
in each episode.Our goal is to put our
own historical and genealogical spin on the story as well. We have therefore
created a blogging circle in which we will share our own family saga in
relation to the time periods reflected in each episode.

The Many Rivers to Cross Series

This six part
series covers 500 year of African American history and explores “the risks they took and the mountains they
scaled.” African American history,
literature, and music are full of references to “rivers” and other bodies of
water. In some of these references, “rivers”
are a barrier in between slavery and freedom.
Whether traveling on foot, by wagon or boat, reaching the other side of
the river is often symbolic with success and victory.

Episodes and Time Periods of Many
Rivers to Cross

Episode 1:
The Black Atlantic (1500-1800)

Episode 2:
The Age of Slavery (1800 - 1860)

Episode 3:
Into the Fire (1861 - 1896)

Episode 4:
Making a Way Out of No Way (1897-1940)

Episode: 5
Rise! (1940 - 1968)

Episode 6:
It's Nation Time (1968 - 2013)

My Initial Thoughts About the Many
Rivers to Cross Series

When I first
learned about the “Many Rivers to Cross” series, I first thought about my African
ancestors who survived the long voyage from Africa to American. Many did not survive the journey, but
although I do not know their names, I know that my ancestors survived. The proof of their survival is ME! After thinking about my African ancestors for
a bit, my mind drifted back to more recent history—that is, my ancestors who
migrated from small towns in Virginia and North Carolina in the early 20th century to larger cities in
the North and South. They too crossed a “many
rivers” in order to move to new lands for a better life.

Genealogy Background of Drusilla Pair

I have been tracing my family history since November 1994 in Greensville County and Newport News Virginia, and Warren, Granville, Vance, and Halifax counties in North Carolina. Since that time, I have given numerous genealogical presentations at family reunions, churches, local and national genealogical societies, and other organizations and have also written family history articles for genealogy and religious publications and books for several of her family reunions. I am a member of the Hampton Roads Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. (AAHGS).